Funding disagreement among partner nations jeopardises timetable of navigation satellite programme
Europe’s Galileo navigation satellite programme may be further delayed following disagreement among the major partner nations over extra funding, linked to industrial returns.
At the end of last year, the European Space Agency (ESA) revealed that the overall cost of Galileo would have to rise from €1.1 billion ($1.34 billion) to €1.5 billion. Half of the €400 million increase will come from the European Commission, but at a meeting of member states’ delegates last month, the four major partners, France, Germany, Italy and the UK, failed to agree on how the extra money should be linked to the substantial future commercial returns from the programme.
Another meeting is set for late August, and if that fails the decision will be pushed back to the ESA space ministers’ meeting in December. An ESA source says this would make it “difficult as long-term funding decisions need to be taken before then”.
The UK’s Industrial Space Committee has issued a strongly worded statement aimed directly at the Department for Transport, which has indicated it is against supporting the extra funding for the programme. “It would be a major embarrassment if the UK were to precipitate a major funding delay during which other countries fought to fill the gap,” says the committee. The UK, which holds a 17% stake in the programme, will have to find an extra €35 million as a result of the latest cost increases.
JULIAN MOXON/LONDON
Source: Flight International